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ADVENTURES OF EARLY 
DISCOVERERS 



BY 



FRANCES A HUMPHREY 




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19^1^, 



BOSTON 

D LOTHROP COMPANY 

FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS 



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Copyright, iS88, 

BV 

D. LoTHROP Company. 



Press of Berwick & Smith, Boston. 



ADVENTUEES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 

HIDE-AND-SEEK ISLANDS. 

Many years ago, thousands of years ago, the people of Europe 
used to talk about an island which they called Atlantis. They 
said this island lay far to the west, in the Atlantic Ocean. And, 
the truth is, that ocean was so named for this island. 

Atlantis was said to be a most lovely island, with high 
mountains, wide rivers, and multitudes of singing birds. Flowers 
grew everywhere, and the weather was always fair. Diamonds 
and other precious gems could be picked up anywhere about the 
island, and Neptune, the sea-god, had a most beautiful j^alace 
right in the centre of it. Best of all, the people who lived 
there were always good and happy. 

But I never heard of anybody who ever really saw this island. 
Sometimes, people, as they stood on the western shores of Europe, 
thought they saw it. It lay along the horizon quite plainly, they 
thought. But it always went away again. And sometimes the 
sailors thought they saw it too ; but when they turned their 
boats toward it, lo ! it was gone. And this is the way it played 
Hide-and-Seek, and nobody ever caught it. 

There was a good man who lived about a thousand years be- 
fore Columbus, a man so good he was called Saint Brandon. 
He was always doing good to people. And when he heard about 
Atlantis, he wanted to go there and do good to the people. So 
he sailed with another good man. Saint Malo. But of course, he 
did not find Atlantis, though he found another island which was 
ever after called by his name — the island of Saint Brandon. 



6 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



But the droll thing is that nobody could ever after find that 
island of Saint Brandon again. A great many people have tried 
to find it. Even as late as 1721 a ship sailed from the Island 
of Tenerift'e in search of it. For the people of the Canary Islands 
fancied they saw it, some- 
times, about a hundred miles 
to the west. And, it is said, 
that even to this day, they 
sometimes think they see its 
mountain-tops above the At- 
lantic waves. And this is the 
second Hide-and-Seek Island. 
The third was called the 
Island of the Seven Cities. 
That was discovered at the 
time when the Moors were 
driving the Christians out of 
Spain. Seven of the Chris- 
tian bishops fled from Spain, 
and took ship and sailed 
out for safety on the At- 
lantic ; for they had rather 
trust themselves with the 
waves than with the Moors. 
By and by they came to an 
island and landed. They 
built seven cities on the island, and that was what gave it its 
name. And that is all we know about it. Nobody could ever 
find it. The sailors that came into the Spanish ports sometimes 
said they had seen it afar off. But it always disappeared when 
they sailed towards it. 




IIU, I'OK THE ISLE OF SAIKT BRAKDON. 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 7 

But I think the most charming of all the stories about the 
Hide-and-Seek islands is that about Bimini. It was said that on 
this island there was a Fountain of Youth. It was said that if 
one were old, with gray hair and wrinkles, and faltering steps, half 
blind and deaf, as the old often are, if such an one were dipped 
in the waters of this Fountain he would be young once more, 
with bright eyes and rosy cheeks and dancing feet. Ah ! thai 
was something worth looking for. And so Ponce de Leon set 
sail in 1512 in search of Bimini. But alas ! it was a Hide-and- 
Seek island, and he never found it. And though many have 
sought far and wide for it, it has never been found to this day. 
But though Ponce de Leon never found the Fountain of Youth, 
he discovered a land so full of flowers that he named it Florida, 
by which name it has been known ever since ; and many peo- 
ple have found it, with its soft airs and groves of orange-trees, 
a true Fountain of Health. 

And you may be sure that the boys and girls of those far-off 
times knew all about these Hide-and-Seek Islands, and used to 
plan, how, when they were grown up they, too, would go in 
search of them. 




LAMP OF THE ZKTLAXDEliS. 



THE MAN FOE WHOM AMEEICA WAS NAMED. 



Last year we 
had a little talk 
about Columbus ; 
what a hard time 
he had ; how long 
he tried before he 
found any one to 
help him ; how at 
last Queen Isa- 
bella of Spain be- 
came his friend 
and found him 
ships and money ; 
how he sailed 



away from Palos 
August, 1492, and 
discovered this western world of ours. How on his third voyage, 
1498, he saw the southern part of the great continent. 

Well, just as soon as he came back from his first voyage 
and told what he had found, then everybody, "even the tailors,'* 
he said, were eager to go and find something too. And among 
those who went was Americus Vespucius. 

Americus made a voyage in 1497-98. He coasted along the shores 
of what is now called Yucatan, and along the shores of the Gulf of 
Mexico and Florida. 




AK OLD ailU' OF THE EARI,Y DISCOVKUERS. 



ABYENTUBEk^ OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



9 



He named this land " The Land of the Holy Cross." 

A few years after he wrote some letters telling all about this 
voyage. But many people said he did not tell the truth in these 
letters. They said he did not make a voyage in 1497-98. They 
said he wanted to take away the glory of the discovery from Col- 
umbus, because Columbus did not reach the mainland until the year 
1498, after the time that Vespucius said he did. They said many 
hard things about Vespucius and his letters. 

But very recently, a learned man named Yarnhagen, has been 
looking it all up carefully. And he is sure that Vespucius told the 
truth, and that he really did make that voyage in 1497-98. So, you 
see, that wise men, differ about it, and it is difficult to tell what is 
the exact truth. 

Vespucius made another voyage in 1501 and he wrote a very 
pleasant account of it. They 
sailed across the ocean from 
Portugal until they came to 
the great southern continent 
— now called South America. 
They sailed down the coast 
for seven hundred leagues. 
He says it was a beautiful, 
fruitful land, with bright 
skies and soft breezes. They 
sailed till they came in sight 
of the stars near the south 
jDole. He saw the four beau- 
tiful stars which are called amekicus vespucius. — i^rom ^^rtm^m.^ m ^aZ/e?-!/ o/ il/«ss. 

Hut. Society, Boston. 

to-day the " Southern Cross." 

They sailed on and on till it began to grow very cold, and the 

nights were fifteen hours long. They saw before them a bleak, 




10 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



rocky, and ice-bound land ; and then they turned back to Portu- 
gal. 

By and by people began to talk about a name for this new- 
world. Columbus had named it the Indies. Some called it 
Mundus Novus (New World). Others called it Colonia or Colum- 
bia, for Columbus. Others said, let it be called Fer-Isabella, after 
the King and Queen of Spain. The great southern continent was 
called "The Land of the Holy Cross," the name Vespucius had 
o;iven it. 

But in 1507 a little book was pubUshed at St. Die, a town 
among the mountains of Italy and France. In this book Ves- 
pucius' letters were printed. In it was also printed this sentence : 
"And the fourth part of the world having been discovered by 
Americus, it may be called Amerige, that is, the land of Americus 
or America." Copies of this little book are in the library of Harvard 
College, and in other collections of books in America. 

And that is where the name started from. 

Americus Vespucius was born at Florence, Italy, November 9, 
1451, and died February 22, 1512. 




A VALENTINE. 



A BKAVE OLD ENGLISH SAILOR. 

His name was Sebastian Cabot. He was born in the beauti- 
ful city of Venice in Italy ; a city whose streets are of water, on 
which the people sail up and down in pretty boats called gondolas. 
Perhaps being born there was what made Sebastian so fond of 
the' sea, and so little afraid of it. For all Venetian boys can 
swim like ducks, and almost live in the water, paddling about 
in it by day and by night. 

Then his father, John Cabot, was a sailor, too, and a son often 
likes to do what his father does. 

Nobody knows when Sebastian's birthday was. In fact, we do 
not know nearly so much about him as we would like to 
know. We do not know exactly when he made his great voy- 
ages. We know that he crossed the Atlantic many times. We 
think that it was in 1497, that he and his father made a voy- 
age with five ships, furnished at their own cost ; and King 
Henry VII. of England gave them liberty to sail " to all parts, 
countries and seas of the East," and " to subdue, occupy, and 
possess all the lands" they found. For the kings of Europe in 
those days, did not mind giving away whole countries that did 
not belong to them, and Sebastian expected to reach the East 
by sailing West. 

Sebastian had heard about Columbus and his voyages. He had 
heard that "Don Christopher Colonus, Genoese, had discovered 
the coasts of India," "where spices grow," by a "way that was 
never known before," by sailing West. And this report kindled 



12 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DICOVERERS. 



" a great flame of desire " in Sebastian's heart to make some 
wonderful discovery, too. And as the world was round he 







SEBASTIAN CAliOT. 



thought he could find a still shorter passage to India by sail- 
ing northwest. But he did not find it on this voyage in 1497. 



So in 1498 he tried ao-ain. He 



sailed from England with 



AB VENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



13 



three liimdred men. He sailed past Iceland, and then to Labra- 
dor. He called Labrador " The Land of Cod-fish." For the 
waters there were so full of these fish that thej hindered the 
sailing of his ship. He found plenty of salmon in the rivers, 
and bears in the woods. He saw the bears come down to the 
shore and catch and eat the fish. 

From Labrador he sailed south, looking for that northwest pas- 
sage. He sailed as far south as Florida. But he did not find 
it, of course, for it is not there. But he discovered that what 
he had supposed were islands, was really a "New Found Land" 
which lay between Europe and India. So, although Columbus 
discovered America, Sebastian Cabot was the first to make sure 
that it was not India, but an entirely new land. 

He tried once or twice more to find a northwest passage. 
He explored what is now Hudson's Bay. But at last he gave 
it up, discouraged. " They that seek riches," said a famous 
writer, " must not go to the frozen North." So Sebastian made 
other voyages. 

He was a skilful as well as a brave sailor, and was held in 
high esteem both by the Kings of England and of Spain. 




ouK polls' washing day. 



THE STOEY OF FERDINAND DE SOTO. 

The little Ferdinand De Soto was born in Spain, about eight 
years after Columbus discovered America. 

His father and mother were people of high rank, but they were 
poor. So they thought they would have to economize in order 
to give their little boy a good education. But a rich count hap- 
pened to see the bright little fellow, and was so pleased with 
him that he offered to send him to school and pay all his ex- 
penses. And so he did ; not only to the schools, but also to 
the University. 

Ferdinand was a good scholar. He grew up tall, active and 
brave. He was nineteen when he left the University, and he at 
once started for those new-found lands across the Atlantic, to 
try his fortune. He was poor and he wanted to make money; 
and people thought gold and precious stones were to be got in 
plenty in those new lands, if a body only knew just where to 
look for them. And of course, each one who went hoped he 
should be the lucky man who would find them. 

Ferdinand first coasted along to look for that passage Cabot 
and others tried to find — the strait which they thought led 
directly through this new found land to China and the East. 

Then he was sent to help Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. And 

there, after a while, he got plenty of gold — all he wanted; 

though I am afraid he did not get it rightly or honestly, ^or 

the Spaniards thought it no harm to steal their gold from the 

.Indians, and they did many cruel deeds in order to get ir-. 

^^ Ferdinand, now very rich, went back to Spain and m.^rried 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS, 



15 



Isabella Bovadilla, the daughter of the rich count who had edu- 
cated him. For so long as Ferdinand was poor, the Count had 
not been willing he should marry Isabella. 

After a few years he thought he should like to try his for- 
tune again in the new world, 
for he had spent a large part 
of the srold he had brouorht 
home. So he took com- 
mand of a great expedition, 
the greatest that had ever 
been sent from Spain. This 
expedition was to go to 
Florida, the beautiful land 
discovered by Ponce de 
Leon. How big Florida 
really was, nobody knew. 
But it was said that, some- 
where in that flowery land, 
there was a region called 
El Dorado (the Land of 
Gold), and that somewhere, 
too, was that Fountain of 
Youth you have read 
about in " The Hide-and- 
Seek Islands." 

Great nobles of Spain joined this expedition, and priests, and 
some women. The Donna Isabella went; and one wife, it is said, 
went with her husband because he had invested every bit of 
money in the expedition and she had nothing left to live on. 

One lovely day in April, 1539, this expedition set sail, and the 
guns boomed, the flags wavea, and the people cheered; for w^ere 




XHE BUKIAL OF DE SOTO IN THE JUSSI8SIFPI. 



IG 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



they not starting for El Dorado and the land of the Fountam 
of Youth! 

Near the end of May they arrived at Cuba. There Ferdinand 
left the Donna Isabella to act as governor during his absence, 
and himself set sail with his men for Florida. For many long 
months they wandered through what is now Alabama, Georgia 
and Arkansas, up even as far as the Indian Territory. Over the 
Mississippi River, through trackless forests, across great marshes, 
and over high mountains they made their way. It must have 
been a gay and imposing sight if one could only have seen them ; 
their banners, the trappings of their horses and their splendid 
dresses made a fine picture against the green of the forests. 

But their march had its dark as well as its gay side. They 
had many fierce battles with the Indians by the way. For they 
were cruel to the Indians, as the Spaniards always were. So 
though the Indians were at first gentle and hospitable, they soon 
learned to be cruel, too. 

At last, finding no gold, they turned homeward. But De Soto 
was taken with fever and died. May 21, 1542. He was a brave 
and valiant leader, and his followers did not want the Indians 
should know of his death, lest they should take courage from it 
to attack them again. So they buried him in the Mississippi 
River, where his body could not be found 




ONE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH S BRAVE CAPTAINS. 

Queen Elizabeth of England had many brave captains, and the 
bravest of them all, perhaps, was Sir Francis Drake. 

He was born in the town of Tavistock, in the lovely county 
of Devon, England ; and the little cottage in which his father 
lived was on the banks of the river Tavy. 

When Francis was still a boy, his father moved into Kent, 
and lived in the hull of a ship, just as the Peggottys did in 
Dickens' story. There were twelve sons in all, and there must 
have been no little noise at times in that old hull. It is not 
possible that a building in which twelve boys lived could ever 
have been quiet except when they were all asleep. 

A boy who lived in the hull of a ship would naturally begin 
life by going to sea. And that was just what the boy, Francis, 
did. His father put him with the master of a bark, which 
coasted along the shores of England, and sometimes took freight 
over to Zealand and France. And he took such pains to do his 
work well, and was so diligent, that he greatly pleased his mas- 
ter, so that when his master died, he left his bark to Francis 
by his will. 

But our brave and bold sailor soon grew tired of coasting, and 
was eager to strike out into the ocean. So he sold his bark 
and joined an expedition to the West Indies, under Captain 
John Hawkins. There were six vessels in this expedition, one 
of which, the Judith, was commanded by Drake. 

They went first to the coast of Africa and captured two hun- 



18 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



dred negroes. These they took to the West Indies and sold for 
slaves. People in those days had not begun to look upon the slave- 
trade as a wicked trade. 

At that time, Spain had possession of the greater part of the 
new world that Columbns had discovered. And they did not wish 
to share it with any other nation. So when Captain Hawkins' 
ships arrived they were roughly handled by the Spaniards. They 
destroyed all but two, the 
Mmion and the Judith ; took 
the men prisoners and treated 
them with great cruelty. 

Queen Elizabeth was very 

angry at this and would have 

liked to declare war against 

Spain, if that had been a 

wise thing to do. But it 

was not, for Spain was then 

a great nation with a vast 

number of ships and soldiers, 

while England had but few. 

But she was very glad to 

have her captains trouble the 

Spaniards, and get from them 

by force as much as they 

could of the gold and silver of which the Spaniards had robbed 

the Indians of Mexico and Peru. 

So, May 24, 1572, Drake set sail with two vessels, for Madre de 
Dios, a placff in the West Indies, where the Spaniards kept great 
store of gold and silver. And he did get a good deal of that 
gold and silver, though he was badly wounded in the attack upon 
the town. But he kept his wound to himself, and his men did 




SIR FKANCIS DKAK.K. 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



19 



not know it until, overcome by the pain and loss of blood, he 
fainted. Then his men bound up his wound, and revived him, 
and wanted him to go back to his boats. But he did not want 
to, and so they took him up and carried him. The whole account 
of this expedition shows what a fearless man Francis Drake was, 
but it is too long to tell you here. 

While crossing the Isthmus of Panama at this time, he came 
one day to a tall tree on a high hill. He was with some 
friendly Indians, and their chief took his hand, and asked him 
to go up that " goodlie and great high tree." He went up by 
steps cut in the trunk, and found up there a kind of arbor with 
seats. And from that arbor he saw, for the first time, the Pa- 
cific Ocean. It was then called the South Sea. He was the first 
Englishman to see that ocean. And then he made a vow that 
he would be the first Englishman to sail upon it. And you shall 
hear about that in the next paper. 




MAKING A CALL ON GRANDPA. 



HOW SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE SAILED ROUXD THE WORLD. 

November 15, 1577, he sailed from Plymouth, England, for the 
Pacific Ocean, with five ships, the Pelican, Elizabeth, Sioan, Mari- 
gold and Christopher. He, himself, was commander of the Pelican. 

After crossing the Atlantic he sailed down the coast of South 
America to the Straits of Magellan. Here he changed the name 
of his vessel from the Pelican to the Golden Hind. 

It is a difficult matter for a vessel to go through this Strait. 
It is crooked and narrow in many places, and the tides are high, 
and the water runs very fast. The shores are steep and rocky. 
On one side is a volcano, and the peaks of the mountains around 
are covered with snow. They landed on one island which they 
named Elizabeth. They found here green valleys and thousands 
of humming-birds. It took them sixteen days to go through the 
Strait, and Francis Drake was the second captain to go through 
it. The first was the Portuguese, Magellan, for whom it was 
named. 

After they got through, a terrible storm arose and drove the 
ships far south, and so Drake saw where the Atlantic and Pacific 
meet. In this storm the Marigold was lost. The Swan and the 
Christopher had been left behind long before. A short time after 
the loss of the Marigold, the Elizabeth drifted away, and went 
back to England. So Sir Francis was left to go on alone in the 
Golden Hind. 

Another storm arose, and again was the Golden Hind driven 
down to the very end of South America, and so Drake was the 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



21 



first to discover Cape Horn. But on the thirtieth of October, the 
storm went down, and they sailed up the coast. They landed for 
water at one place where they found a Spaniard asleep, with 
thirteen bars of silver lying by his side, worth four thousand 
ducats. A silver ducat is worth one dollar. " We tooke the sil- 
ver and left the man," says the narrator. 

Landing at another place farther on, they met a Spaniard and 
an Indian boy driving " eight 
sheepe of Peru." Each sheep 
had two leather bags on its 
back ; and each bag held fifty 
pounds of silver. They took 
the bags of silver. It was 
a part of the business of this 
Englishman, you see, to rob 
every Spaniard he met. 

He entered Callao, the port 
of Peru, where thirty ships 
were lying at anchor ; seven- 
teen of these were loaded 
with treasure, ready to sail 
for Spain. But Drake took 
all the treasure, and then 
ordered the cables that held 
the ships to be cut, that they 
might drift away. He met a bark and robbed it of eighty pounds 
of gold, and a cross of precious stones. Everybody was taken by 
surprise, for no one expected to meet an Englishman in this part 
of the world. 

At Callao, he learned that a rich treasure ship had just left 
there for Panama. He started in pursuit of her. Her name was 




yUi-KiN ELIZAliKTU UF i^.NGLA.ND. 



22 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



Cacafuego ; and she was called " the great glor}^ of the South 
Sea." Drake came up with her near Panama. He fired two shots 
that carried away one of her masts. He then boarded her and 
found her to be indeed a treasure. For he took from her, not 
only jewels and precious stones, but thirteen chests of silver coin^ 
eio-hty pounds of gold and twenty-six tons of silver. 

April 15tli, Drake took the Golden Hind into the port of 
Ao-uapulca, for repairs. She was only a vessel of one hundred 
tons, and she was pretty well battered with the long voyage and 
the storms. And while he waited there he thought anxiously 
about what he should do next. He was afraid that if he went 
back the way he came, the Spaniards would be waiting for him 
at the mouth of the Straits of Magellan. Ships now go around 
Cape Horn instead of through these Straits. But no ship had 
then been round Cape Horn. 







^:'^nmim\ ^'lu 



IX THE MOKTII OF JUNE. 



; 



HOW SIR FKANCIS DRAKE SAILED ROUND THE WORLD. 

Drake had seen that the two great oceans met at the south- 
ern extremity of America, and so he concluded that they met 
at its northern extremity too. And he thought at first he would 
sail up that way and so go back into the Atlantic. But the 
weather became so cold as he sailed north, that he changed his 
mind. And it was well that he did. For if he had sailed up 
into the icy Arctic Ocean, with his little vessel filled with trea- 
sure, I am afraid we should never have heard from him again. 

While sailing up the western coast of America, he came to a 
"faire and good bay." Here he staid thirty-six days. The 
Golden Hind had sprung a-leak, and they had to lighten her, 
in order to repair her. So they carried their goods on shore, 
and built a fort and lived in tents. The people came down to 
the shore to see these strange white visitors. They sung and 
danced around them. They put a feathered cap on Drake's head, 
and a gold chain around his neck. They were kind and hospit- 
able. This "faire and good bay" is thought to have been the 
Bay of San Francisco. 

On the twenty-third of July, 1579, Drake left this port and 
sailed west; and, so long as the Golden Hind was in sight, the 
natives kept fires burning on the hills. For they were very sor- 
rowful at the departure of their white friends, and wanted to 
keep them in sight as long as possible. 

So the Golden Hind sailed across the wide Pacific, and down 
the coast of Africa, and round the Cape of Good Hope and 



24 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



home to England — the second ship that had then sailed round 
the world. And Drake was the first Englishman to sail round it. 
They reached Plymouth, England, September 26, 1580, and tho 
bells of St. Andrew's church rang out a merry peal, and the peo- 
ple all hastened to the wharf to see them. 

The vessel was then taken to Deptford, and the next year 
Queen Elizabeth vis- 
ited it, and made 
Francis Drake, Sir 
Francis Drake; and 
she gave him for 
a coat of arms, a 
ship on a world. 

She also ordered 
the Golden Hind to 
be lodged in a dock 
at Deptford. It was 
never to go to sea 
any more, but to 
stay there as a mon- 
ument to the cour- 
ao:e and darino; of 
Sir Francis Drake. 

It remained there 
for a long series of 
years, and was visited by a great many people At last the wood 
of it became much decayed, and so enough sound wood was taken 
out to make a chair. This chair was presented to the University 
of Oxford. And there it is to this day. 

Sir Francis Drake served Elizabeth for many years after this. 
He helped in the destruction of the Spanish Armada. You will 




CHAIR MADE FROM THE " GOLDEN HIND." 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



25 



read about that Spanish Armada in history. King Philip of Spain, 
laid a plan to seize England, and not only to seize England, 
but to seize Queen Elizabeth, too. And he sent a fleet of one 
hundred and thirty-two ships, of over three thousand guns and 
over thirty thousand men, to the shores of England. 

But Queen Elizabeth was not to be frightened by all these 
men and ships. " I know I have but the body of a weak and 
feeble woman, but I have the heart of a King, and of a King of 
England, too," she said. And she called together her officers and 
great men, and among them was Sir Francis Drake. And ships, and 
men and guns were brought, and the Spanish Armada was driven 
back from the coasts of England, and only fifty-one of the ves- 
sels went back to King Philip of Spain. 




TAKING A LUNCH. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

"In a poor farmhouse among the pleasant valleys of South 
Devon, among the white apple-orchards and the rich water-meadows 
anil the red fallows and red kine, in the year of grace, 1552, a 
boy was born, as beautiful as day, and christened Walter Raleigh." 

There, does not that sound like the beginning of a fairy story 
or a hero story? And Sir Walter Raleigh was a heroic man, 
and the whole story of his life, which, I hope, you will some- 
time read, sounds like a fairy story. For his life was full of 
adventure, full of things both splendid and sad. 

He was one of the greatest men of Queen Elizabeth's reign, 
but he died upon tlie scaffold. 

The house in which he was born at Haves is still standinof. 

One of his older brothers was Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He it 
was who so bravely died at sea. He was an admiral, and had 
gone out with an expedition to found a colony at Newfoundland. 
His own ship was the Squirrel. 

The Squirrel was small and overloaded. She was not strong 
enough to live through the storms she met. And. one night, the 
watchers on the other vessels saw the lights upon the Squirrel 
suddenly go out, and then they knew that she was " swallowed 
up by the sea." 

The very day before Sir Humphrey Gilbert was " sittiug 
abaft with a book in his hand ; " it was the Book of Books, the 
Bible ; and he said to his terrified men who feared every mo- 
ment that the Squirrel would sink : " Be of good heart, my 



ADVEN'TURUS OF THE EARLY DltiCOVERER^. 



li 



He sat upon the deck. 

The Book ims in his hand; 

''Do not fear ! Heaven is as near,'' 
He said, '■'by icater as by land!' 



friends. We are as near to Heaven by sea as by land." 
Our own Longfellow has written a poem about him, two verses 
of which are here given: 

Alas ! the land-tcind failed. 

And ice-cold grew the night; 
And nevermore, on sea or shore, 

Shoidd Sir Humphrey see the light. 

The boy Walter grew up 
in lovely Devon, " fishing 
in the gray trout brooks, 
or going up with his fathei' 
to the Dartmoor hills to 
hunt the deer with hound 
and gun/' till such time 
as he went to the Uni- 
versity of Oxford. But he 
was a soldier before he 
was eighteen. 

There is a pretty story 
told concerning Queen Eliz- 
abeth and Walter Raleigh. 
The Queen was walking- 
out with her court one day 
Avhen she came to a muddy 
place in the highway. She 
stopped and hesitated to 
cross, lest she should soil 
her fine shoes. And, as 
she stood hesitating, a young man stepped forward, and taking 
from his shoulders his rich plush cloak, spread it over the mud, 
and so the Queen passed over dry shod. This young man was 
Walter Raleigh. 




SIR WALTEK KALKIGH. 



28 



AUVJ^NTL^RES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



This story was first told by the old historian, Fuller, who was 
a boy when Raleigh died. And Walter Scott tells it in his 
beautiful book, Kenilworth. 

Older brothers always have a great influence over younger 
brothers. And Walter Raleigh's older brothers, John, Humphrey, 
and Adrian, must have had a good as well as a great influence 
over him. They were all brave and good men, and full of the 
adventurous spirit of the times. They wanted to have a share 
in the discoveries of that day, and when Sir Humphrey sent 
out his expeditions, Walter Raleigh had an interest in them. 

After Sir Humphrey died Walter Raleigh sent out expeditions 
on his own account. His brother had wanted to discover that 
northwest passage about which you have read in the paper upon 
Cabot. But Sir Walter did not care for that. He wanted to 
start an English Colony in America before the Spaniards could get 
possession of it all. And that was the way all the Englishmen 
of that day felt. Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Richard Grenville, 
Walter Raleigh's friend, and Sir John Hawkins. They wanted 
that Englishmen should have a share in this great land of 
America, 




W];iTi,\<; I.N iiiK sAXl). 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH S LOST COLONY. 

Sir Walter Raleigh made several attempts to start a colony in 
North America before he sent out the one which is always called 
"The Lost Colony." 

In 1584 he sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow to explore 
the coast, and they brought back very pleasant accounts of a 
certain island which we know as Roanoke Island in Albemarle 
Sound — of its trees and deer, and " gentle and loving people." 

It was about this time that he was knighted by Queen Eliz- 
abeth, and became Sir Walter Raleigh, and he named the prov- 
ince she had granted him, Virginia, in her honor. 

In 1587 he sent out a colony composed of one hundred and 
fifty householders and their families, to settle upon this island, 
and this is the colony known as " The Lost Colony." 

The governor of this Colony was John Whyte, and only a 
short time after their arrival at Roanoke, his little granddaughter, 
Virginia Dare, was born, the first child of English parentage born 
within the limits of what is now the United States. 

And only nine days after she was born, the fleet went back 
to England, and John Whyte went with it. He meant to return 
in a few months and bring provisions for the people from Eng- 
land. 

This, as I said, was in 1587 ; and it was in 1588, you re- 
member, that the great Spanish Armada sailed against England. 
And every ship and every man was needed to fight against the 
Spaniards. 



30 



AD VENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



So though Sir Walter Raleigh tried to send a ship to the re- 
lief of these colonists, he could not do so until 1590 — three 
long years. 

And what did those people do during those three long years, 
and what became of them ? Nobody knows. 

When Governor Whyte sailed away, he made an agreement 
with the colonists that if 



any thing should happen 
to make it wise for them 
to go to some other j)lace, 
they would leave, carved 
upon some tree, the name 
of that place. 

And if it was through 
disaster that they were 
obliged to move, they would 
carve a cross under the 
name. 

As the ship sent by Si:' 
Walter Raleigh in 1590 drew 
near Roanoke Island, yo;i 
may be sure that Governo.' 
Whyte looked eagerly uj) 
and down the shore for some 
signs of the colony he had 
left behind ; the smoke from 




CAHVIXG THK NAJIK. 



their chimneys, perhaps, or the lights in their windows, he would see. 

They would be on the lookout, of course, for a ship from 
England. For had they not been expecting one every day for 
two years and more ? 

Doubtless the people would come flocking down to the shore. 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



31 



and among them would be his little granddaughter, Virginia Dare, 
who must now be nearly three years old. 

But no sign did he see ; neither smoke from chimneys, nor light 
in windows. None came down to greet them but the wild deer 
and the heron. All was silence. 

They went on shore. Books and maps were lying about torn, 
bars of iron and bits of lead. The houses or huts had been 
long deserted. 

But upon a tree they found this word cut — CROAT AN. 
Where was Croatan ? No one knew. 

And not a trace of this colony, or of the fate of the little 
Virginia Dare, has been found to this day. 




r.i:l.\(.i.N<; in iiii; fkinii .s\vi;hT ( iaitiiks. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH S VOYAGE TO GUIANA. 



ET US now go a voyage with 
Sir Walter himself ; for he not 
only sent people to found colo- 
nies, but he went, too. 

He had heard many won- 
derful stories about Guiana and 
its riches. It was said that in 
Guiana was to be found, at 
last, the true Eldorado. Its 
capital was called Manoa the 
Golden. And in Manoa, it 
was said, the very boxes and 
troughs were made of silver and 
gold ; and gold lay in its streets 
in heaps, like piles of logs ! 
The Spaniards had tried many times to find this Manoa the 

Golden, but had not succeeded. 

Whether Sir Walter believed all these wonderful stories, I do 

not know. But he made up his mind there was some truth in 

them — that riches of some sort were to be found in Guiana. 

And he did not mean that Spain should get them all. So in 

1595 he set sail for the mouth of the Orinoco River. 

There he left his big ships and went up the river in boats. 

These boats carried one hundred men and provisions for a month. 

The Orinoco has many channels, and the currents and winds were 




ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



33 



both strong, and they knew not at first which cliannel to choose. 

But just after tliey started they saw a canoe with three In- 
dians crossing. Tliey gave chase to them in their big eight-oared 
boat, and soon caught up with them and took one Indian on 
board for a pilot. And a capital pilot he proved to be. For he 
knew all about the river, and '' but for him," says Raleigh, " I 
think we had never found the way either to Guiana or back to 
our ships." 

So they rowed on and on, and sometimes the water was shal- 
low, and they got aground. Sometimes the trees along the banks 
and on the island were so tall and stood so thickly together they 
could hardly breathe. 

At last the pilot persuaded Sir Walter to leave his big boat 
behind and row in the smaller boats up a narrow stream. Soon 
they came to a lovely country with great grassy plains and 
clumps of trees, and deer that came fearlessly down to the water's 
edge to feed. But they did not find Manoa the Golden. 

After they had gone four hundred miles their provisions began 
to get low. Sometimes they found plenty of delicious fruits to 
eat. One day they met some canoes, filled with excellent Indian 
bread. 

At the mouth of the Carino River, they had a pleasant time 
with the Indians. " They came," says Raleigh, " to wonder at 
our nation and bring us victuals." There he saw an old chief, 
a very old man, named Topiawari. He and Raleigh had long 
talks about England and Queen Elizabeth, and about the geog- 
raphy and climate of Guiana. And Raleigh was surprised to find 
an Indian so learned and well-bred. 

When the old chief took leave of him he said, " I am very 
old, and Death calls daily for me." He thought he should never 
see Raleigh again. But they staid in camp a while longer, and 



34 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



Raleigh sent for him. He came with his followers, and brought 
a great store of provisions for the English. But Raleigh would 
not permit his hungry men to touch one bit they did not pay 
for. For he was always just in his dealings with the Indians, 
and quite unlike the Spaniards, who took everything they wanted 
without paying. And the Indians felt the difference. They never 
forgot Raleigh. Two hundred years after, when Humboldt was 
in Guiana, he heard traditions of Raleigh's goodness. And the 
Indians told him how Raleigh had promised to come back. 

He did not find Manoa the Golden. Nobody ever found it, 
and I suspect the story about it was a kind of fairy story. 

Sir Walter wrote an interesting account of this voyage wdiich 
you may some day read, perhaps. 




H.Vi;VKSTEl!.s 



THE SEA-FIGHT OFF CADIZ IN SPAIN. 

Sir Walter Raleigh was many things. He was a soldier, a 
scholar, a navigator, a founder of colonies, a chemist, a poet and 
an historian. And whatever he did, he did well. Most people, 
you know, can only do one thing well. 

He was fond of the planning and laying out of gardens and 
the planting of trees. 

He first brought the potato from America to Ireland, for the 
potato was an American product. He was then living at Youghal, 
Ireland. 

He introduced tobacco into England. And it is said that one 
day his servant saw him smoking, and as he had never seen 
any one smoke before, he naturally thought that his master was 
on fire, and bringing a big basin of water, he threw it over 
him to put out the fire. 

Sir "Walter was rear-admiral in the English Navy. He took 
part in the great fight against the Spanish Armada about which 
you have read in this series. His ship was one of three that 
kept up the chase after the flying Spanish ships to the last. 

In 1596 took place the famous sea-fight in the harbor of Cadiz 
in Spain, between the English and Spanish ships, and Sir Walter 
Raleigh was in the very thick of it. In fact, he led the attack 
in his war-ship, the War-Spright. 

He started betimes in the morning. " With the first peep of 
day," he says, "I weighed anchor. . . . taking the start of 
all ours on a good distance." 



36 



ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 



Under the wall of the town of Cadiz, lay a long line of 
Spanish galleys, and as the War-Sprlcjlit sailed gallantly and 
proudly by, they fired npon her. But the only notice Sir Walter 
took of these "wasps," as he called them, was to blow his trum- 
pets at them. He did not choose to spend his time and ammu- 
nition in fighting such small 
fry as these. 

For just before him, and 
beyond these "wasps," lay the 
two great ships, St. PhilliiJ 
and St. Andreio, the biggest 
shi|)s in the Spanish Navy, 
and as he drew near to these, 
the guns of the War-S'pright 
opened upon them. 

They replied with their guns, 
and the battle was raging 
fiercely when the English ships 
came up, the Rainbow and 
the JSForipareih and tried to 
get in ahead of the War- 
Sjpright. 

But this Sir Walter would 
not allow ; he placed the War- 
SjJright directly across the chan- 
nel so no ship could pass. 

" I was very sure (after that) that none would outstart me 
for that day," he says. 

When the Spaniards found that Raleigh was upon the point of 
seizing the great St. Philip, they blew her up and sunk her, 
together with the St. Thomas. But he captured the St. Andrew 




QUEEN ELIZABETH IN HER PEACOCK GOWN. 



BRIGHT AND BRINDLE. 



37 



and the 8t. Matthew before they had time to blow them up, and 
took them home to England and afterwards used them in fio-ht- 
ing against the Spaniards. 

This famous sea-fight lasted three hours. Eight only of the 
English fleet were lost or crippled, while the Spaniards lost fifty 
ships and galleys. After the sea-fight came a land-fight when the 
English landed and fought for the possession of Cadiz. 

But Sir Walter had been so severely wounded that he could 
not sit upon his horse, and so he could not take part in this. 
But he had his men carry him on shore in a litter, so that he 
might look on if he could do nothing more. 

The English had hoped to capture the great Indian fleet, which 
was anchored near Cadiz, but the Spanish Duke of Medina set 
the fleet on fire, and all the rich stuffs — velvets, silks, jewels, 
and gold — were burned or sunk in the sea. 

This disastrous sea-fight was the first great blow struck at the 
power of Spain, and from that day she began to decline. 







BKIGHT AND BKIMDLE. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH IN PRISON. 

After Queen Elizabeth died King James of Scotland became King 
James I. of England. 

Now King James did not like Sir Walter Raleigh ; more than 
that, he hated him. And why he hated him you will understand 
as you grow older and study history for yourself. 

Now when one person hates another he always tries to do him 
harm. And James I. was a king and so had great power to do 
harm, and he had Sir Walter Raleigh arrested, tried, and im- 
prisoned for a crime of which he was not guilty. 

He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, in that part of 
it called "The Bloody Tower," If you should go to England 
you could see that very Tower. 

But you must not suppose that because he was imprisoned, he 
was shut up in a cell, or even in one room. He was not allowed 
to go outside of what is called the Tower of London, but he 
had a good deal of liberty inside that place. 

He had rooms and servants. His wife, Lady Raleigh, was 
with him part of the time, and part of the time she lodged 
near the Tower. His older son, Walter, was with him and his 
little son Carew was born while he was livino; there. 

He used to pass a good deal of his time in a garden where 
he had a "' still." For he was a chemist. 

He wrote his famous Histonj of the World while living in 
the Tower. He lived there twelve years, aud many people visited 
him there. 



ADVENTURES OF THE EABLY BLSCOVEBERS. 



39 



Many of his friends tried to persuade King James to pardon 
him. Queen Anne tried, for she had a great regard for Sir 
Walter. Lady Raleigh tried. She went with her son, Walter, 
and knelt at the feet of the king and begged him to spare her 
husband and set him free. But the king refused. 

Prince Henry, the king's oldest son, tried. Often and often 



'■'■■■■■1 




iiliiilllli.iiillill^iililliiHijmmiiiillililliliiililiiliiiiIllli,il{iU^^ ill I" I I f l' lllllll/l illlinl 1 1 iJll illli ililiilillilli Jibi jii liliiiiia .jjiiJllkiiiHiUMIi'i^jdii i iii>iliuiUiUltail u 11 

PRINCES HENRY AND CHARLES ASKING KING JAMES FOR THE PARDON OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



he begged his father to spare the man who had done so much 
for England's glory. Once when the king was at a feast, and 
seemed very happy and good-natured, Prince Henry thought it 
would be a good time to ask again for the pardon of Sir Wal- 



40 ADVENTURES OF THE EARLY DISCOVERERS. 

ter. So he and his brother, Prince Charles, together asked for 
his freedom. But the king refused to grant it. 

It is true that at hist he did promise Prince Henry that he 
would pardon Sir Walter on the coming Christmas. But, alas ! 
before that Christmas came Prince Henry died, and the king for- 
got or did not choose to remember his promise. 

Prince Henry loved Sir Walter very dearly, and visited him 
often in the Tower. " No king but my father," Prince Henry 
once said, " would keep such a bird in a cage." 

One of the last pleasures of this Prince was seeing the launch 
of his own ship, the Prince., concerning the building of which he 
had consulted Sir Walter. For this wonderful man seems to have 
known all about ship-building. In fact, there was hardly any 
science of his day of which he was ignorant. 

All England mourned for Prince Henry, for he was a lad of 
great promise — all but his father. But he did not seem to 
care for the death of his son. He loved nobody but himself. 

And with the death of this Prince died also the last hope of 
Sir Walter Raleigh. He was condemned to death. But concern- 
ing that I cannot tell you ; it is too sad a story. He died 
bravely and " made no more of his death than it had been to 
take a journey." And as years go on his memory is more and 
more honored. America especially likes to do honor to Sir 
Walter Raleigh. His portrait is in the Pilgrim Hall at Ply- 
mouth, Mass., and in St. Margaret's Church in London, where he 
was buried, there is a window to his memory, given by Americans. 

On this window are these lines by James Russell Lowell : 

" The Neio World's sons, from England's breast loe drew 

Such milk as bids remember ivhence we came. 
Prond of her past from tohich onr future grew. 

This window we inscribe to Haleiah's name." 




^IKST ixsPTRATio.s OK CO...MBCS. - i?, GiuUo MonU.er,Je. In the Museu,n oj Fine Arts. Bost 



now THE NOETHMEN CAME TO AMERICA. 

In 1002, four liiindred and thirty years before Christopher 
Columbus was born, Lief, the son of Eric, started on a voyage 
of discovery. He was a hardy Norwegian, who lived in Green- 
land. 

His ship was a queer little vessel, sometimes moved by sails, 
and sometimes by oars. But it was tight and strong. He had 
twenty-five men, and he sailed away southwesterly. It was early 
summer, but he met many icebergs, just as our vessels now do. 

The first land he came to was flat and stony near the sea. 
Farther inland, were high mountains with snow on their tops. 
This land was what is now called Labrador. Still sailing on to- 
wards the south, they by-and-by came to a flat country. This 
flat country had vast forests, and was what is now called New- 
foundland. Here they cast anchor and went on shore, and feasted 
upon the sweet berries they found growing in abundance. 

But they were not content to stop here, and so sailed on still 
farther south and southwesterly till they came to another and 
far different land. 

This land had pretty green hills covered with trees, wild 
plums and berries grew here. The climate was soft, and there 
were song-birds and plenty of squirrels. They liked the look of 
this land so well, they sought along the shore for a harbor, and 
finally found one at the mouth of a river, where the tide 
swept in. Here were salmon and wild deer. A young German 



44 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



boy of the company wandered away one day and, when found 
was eating dehcious grapes, such as grew in his own German 
fatherland. The grapes were so abundant, Lief named the coun- 
try Vinland. The company built huts and stayed in Vinland 
during that winter. At first the days and nights were about the 
same length. Then the days 
shortened and the sun rose 
at half-past seven, and set 
at half-past four. 

In the spring Lief went 
back to Greenland, and his 
brother Thorwald bought his 
vessel and sailed for Vin- 
land. Thorwald and his men 
passed the winter in the 
same huts where Lief and 
his men had staid the win- 
ter before. When summer 
came they began to explore, and one day they saw some dusky men, 
the first human beings they had found. These dusky men were 
timid and ran away, but Thorwald's men caught some of them 
and cruelly put them to death. This made these dusky Lidians 
angry, and they made an attack upon the Northmen and Thor- 
wald was killed. Vinland means Wine-land. 

The next summer Thorfin, a young Norwegian nobleman, came 
to Vinland with his beautiful bride. Gudfrida. These came with 
five other women, and a number of men. They lived three years 
in Vinland, and then Thorfin and Gudfrida returned to Norway, 
carrying specimens of the furs and fruits of this new country. 
Some of Thorfin's people staid behind and were joined by about 




THE OLD MILL AT NEWPORT, lUIOUE ISLAM). 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 45 

thirty more from Greenland. Among this thirty was Freydisa, 
sister of Lief. She was such a bad-hearted, deceitful woman, her 
family hoped she would always stay in Vinland, and never come 
back to Greenland. But she stirred up such strife, and set the 
colony so by the ears, she had to flee back to Greenland to 
save her life. And this is about all we know about the colony 
of Vinland. It became extinct, but just how, nobody knows. 
What I have told you is found in the chronicles of Iceland. 

Historians differ as to how far these Northmen sailed along the 
shores of America. Some think Lief went as far as what is 
now Rhode Island, and that the old stone mill at Newport is 
the remains of a tower built by the Northmen. This tower is 
round and rests on seven columns. Its foundation stones are 
wrought spheres. 

Others say that the Northmen did not get any further than 
Labrador, and I suppose we shall never know the exact truth 
about it. 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF COLUMBUS. 

About the year 1435, a little boy was born in the city of 
Genoa, in Italy. Genoa is still a lovely city — a city of palaces. 
Back of it are high rugged mountains, and in front of it, lying 
at its feet, is the blue, tideless Mediterranean Sea. Its streets 
are narrow and steep. 

But in 1435, when this little boy was born, Genoa was not 
only a lovely city, but a very rich one. It had a great many 
ships, which sailed to all parts of the world ; that is, to all 
parts of the world that the Genoese knew anything about. For 
America was then unknown to the people of Europe. They did 
not know that across the Atlantic Ocean lay this big continent 
of ours. They knew something about Asia, and the East Indies. 
They traded with the East Indies. But they brought all their 
silks, and their spices, and other precious things by way of the 
Gulf of Persia, and various rivers, to the Mediterranean Sea. 
They did not know 'there was an easier way to get there, by 
sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern point of 
Africa. 

They did not dare to sail very far south. They noticed that 
it grew warmer as they sailed south, and they thought if they 
kept on, by and by they would come to where the water of 
the ocean would boil ! 

But, as I said, Genoa was then a very rich and lovely city 
and there this little boy was born. His name was Christofo 
Colombo. That is his Italian name. In Spanish history he is 



THE ADVENTURED OF COLVMBUS. 



47 



called Cristoval Colon, and we know him as Christopher Columbus, 
the great discoverer of America. 

Yes, the great Columbus was once a wee baby just as we 
all have been, and, I have no doubt, cried just as all babies do, 
and ate and slept, and cooed, and kicked, till, by and by, he 
grew into a big boy of 



SIX. 




His parents were poor. 
His father was a wool- 
comber. For a little time 
Colombo was the only child, 
but after awhile, two little 
brothers and a sister came 
into the home-nest, which 
was then pretty well crowded. 

But though the parents 
of Colombo were f)oor, they 
managed to give him a good 
education. He was taught 
to read and to write, and 
he wrote so good a hand, 
Las Casas tells us, that he 
might have earned his bread 
by writing. Las Casas was a historian who knew all about that, 
for he owned some of Columbus' manuscripts. 

He was also taught arithmetic, drawing and designing, and in 
course of time, grammar and Latin. But the study he seemed 
to enjoy most was geography, and he had a great desire to go 
to sea. So his wise father concluded that if his little son wished 
to follow a maritime life, that is, to go to sea, for the purpose 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. (From an old print.) 



48 THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 

of trade or of discovery, he must be properly fitted for it, and lie 
sent him to the famous University of Pavia, in Lombardy. There 
he was taught not only geography, but geometry, astronomy, and 
navigation. And he studied hard, just as boys are apt to study 
the things they like. 

He was at Pavia only a short time, but he made good use of 
that tune, and, afterwards, as he grew up to big boyhood and 
to manhood, he kept right on studying ; in fact, I suppose he 
never stopped studying so long as he lived, which is the right 
way to do if a boy or girl wishes to be really successful in 
life. 

We do not know exactly how old Colombo was when he came 
back from Pavia to his father's house in Genoa. But he must 
have been still very young, as, according to his own account, 
he was only fourteen when he entered upon his maritime 
life. 

Between the time that he left Pavia until he began to go to 
sea, he helped his father at wool-combing. But we can easily 
imagine that this wide-awake, earnest boy, spent a good deal of 
time at the busy wharves of Genoa, watching the coming and 
going of the richly-ladened, queer vessels of those days, and talk- 
ing with the sailors about the unknown and distant countries 
he so much wished to see. For wharves are very fascinating 
places to most boys, and certainly must have been to one so 
fond of geography as was Colombo. 

Very early he must have begun to wonder about this big 
world of ours. Giulio Montevede, in his statue, •' The First In- 
spirations of Columbus," represents him as a mere lad, busy with 
thoughts concerning that unknown land which he thinks must lie 
beyond the wide Atlantic Ocean. 




// /^ r >-"<^' 



COLUMBUS AND HIS SONS DIEGO AND FEKDINANU. 

From an old print. 



COLUMBUS IN LISBON. 



In 1470 Columbus went to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. 

He was then thirty-five, but his hair was already white with 
care and trouble. He was a tall and dignified man, courteous 
to every one, and especially gentle and kindly in his own house- 
hold. He is said to have had a quick temper, but he early 
learned to control that quick temper. 

He married and settled in Lisbon. The father of his wife had 
been a distinguished navigator, and all his papers — his charts 
and the journals of his voyages — were given to Columbus. He 
studied these carefully. At the same time he made maps and 
charts to support his family, for he was poor. Notwithstanding 
his own poverty, he helped his aged father who continued to 
live in Genoa, and gave money for the education of his younger 
brothers. 

From time to time he voyaged down the coast of Guinea and 
made a trip in 1477 to Iceland. 

He read the works of Marco Polo. Marco Polo was a Vene- 
tian traveller who had visited Cathay (China) and Cipango (Japan). 
He told marvellous stories about the riches of these countries. 
They abounded, he said, in gold and precious stones, and the 
palace of the King of Japan was covered with plates of gold, 
instead of lead, as in other lands. 

The works of Marco Polo had been translated into many lan- 
guages, and were in manuscript, because the art of printing was 



52 THE ADVENTURES OF C0LV3IBUS. 

not then in general use. It was not an easy matter to get 
these works, but Columbus got them, and read them eagerly, 
and he lonsced to see these wonderful lands. As he read and 
studied, and thought, he became sure that, by sailing directly 
west, he should reach first the island of Cipango (Japan) and 
then Cathay (China). 

And this was what all the wise men of that day thought, 
that the world was much smaller than it really is, and that the 
Atlantic Ocean, only, lay between the western coast of Europe 
and the eastern coast of Asia. 

Prince Henry of Portugal had thought to reach India by sail- 
ing round Africa, but he died in 1473, before this was accom- 
plished. Columbus thought that a shorter way than this would be 
directly west. 

This Prince Henry was a great and good man, and as eager 
for discovery as was Columbus. His nephew John II. was king 
of Portugal, when Columbus finally made up his mind to ask 
the Crown of Portugal to fit out a fleet of vessels to make a 
voyage of discovery across the Atlantic. 

King John was eager to find a passage by sea to India, but 
he was not so ready to listen to Columbus as the latter had hoped. 

He gave Columbus audience and listened attentively to what 
he had to say, but referred the matter to a "junto," or com- 
pany of learned men. These learned men discouraged the king 
from attempting the voyage. They thought the idea of reaching 
India by saihng west was nonsense. But the king, still doubt- 
ing, called together his council and laid Columbus' proposal 
before them. They too advised the king not to enter upon the 
undertaking. But seeing him still dissatisfied they proposed to 
hun to do a truly mean thing. 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 53 

It was to fit out a vessel secretly in the direction pointed out 
by Columbus, and see if anything came of it. The king listened 
to this mean counsel, and the vessel was fitted out. They asked 
Columbus to give them a plan of his proposed route, and to 
bring to them his charts, pretending they only wanted to exam- 
ine them. But they gave them into the hands of the captain 
of the vessel, with orders to follow the course marked out on 
Columbus' chart. 

The vessel sailed. But storms arose, and the crew were afraid 
when they saw the great tumbling waves of the wide Atlantic 
before them, and not a bit of land, and quickly put back to 
Lisbon. 

When Columbus heard of this mean trick of King John, he 
was very angry and would have nothing more to say to him, 
although the king would like to have talked the matter over 
with him again. His wife had died and he left Lisbon near the 
end of 1484, taking his son Diego with him. 



AKRIVAL OF COLUMBUS IN SPAIN. 

Said Columbus to his son Diego, when writing to him about 
his brother Ferdinand, and telling him always to love and cling 
to him, " for ten brothers would not be too many for you ; I 
have never found better friends on my right hand and on my 
left, than my brothers." 

So we often find, in the life of Columbus, mention made of 
his brothers, especially of his brother Bartholomew. 

When Columbus left Lisbon, he sent his brother Bartholomew 
to Henry VII. of England, to propose that he should furnish 
vessels for the discovery of the Indies at the West. At the same 
time Columbus himself made a similar proposal to the Republic 
of Genoa. But neither proposal was accepted. 

The next we hear from Columbus he was in Spain. One day, 
a stranger on foot stopped at the gate of the convent. La 
Rabida, in the province of Andalusia, and asked for food for 
his little boy. The two were dusty and weary with travel. 
They were poor, or they would not have been asking for food 
and shelter in this way. They asked only for bread and water. 

While the porter was giving them the bread, the prior or 
head of the convent chanced to go by. You have read that 
Columbus was a tall and dignified man, of courteous manners, 
and you will not be surprised to learn that this prior was 
pleased with his appearance, and stopped to speak with him. 
Doubtless he was surprised, too, to see such a man so destitute. 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



57 



This prior was a man of much learning. He lived not far 
from the port of Palos and knew all about the various voyages 
of discovery that had been made. So he was greatly interested 
when he learned Columbus' errand, for Columbus had come to 

apply to the court of Spain 
for help to carry out his 
plans. 

This prior's name was Juan 
Perez de la Marchena, and 
from that time to the end 
of his life he was a firm 
friend to Columbus. 

At this time, 1486, Fer- 
dinand and Isabella were 
king and queen of Spain. 
Ferdinand was king of Arra- 
gon, and Isabella was queen 
of Castile, and by their 
marriag-e these two kino-doms 
had become one. But they 
QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN. had scparate councils, and 

each conducted the affairs of his or her kingdom. 

Writers who lived at that time, have told us many charming 
things about Queen Isabella. " She was the noblest creature that 
ever reigned over men," says one. She was fair, and her hair 
was auburn. Her clear blue eyes were honest and loving, and 
she was a " model of modesty and integrity." Our own Wash- 
ington Irving, who wrote a life of Columbus, says she is one of 
the " purest and most beautiful characters in history." 

And it was to this beautiful and gracious queen that Colum- 




58 THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 

bus was now to make his proposals for a voyage of discovery. 
Juan Perez gave liim a letter of introduction to one of the 
chief men of her court, and Columbus, leaving his son Diego 
with the good prior, went to Cordova where the king and queen 
were. 

They were engaged, at that time, in a war with the Moors. 
The Moors had held possession of the southern part of Spain for 
eight hundred years, and the Spaniards wished to drive them back 
into Africa. So when Columbus reached Cordova, he found the 
city full of soldiers, and the court was like a military camp. 

Queen Isabella often went with her army, and, like her sol- 
diers, wore armor at such times. 

(Several suits of armor worn by Isabella, can be seen to-day, 
together with her sword, in the royal arsenal at Madrid.) 

It was a bad time for Columbus to make his proposals, for 
everybody, including the king and queen, was thinking only of 
war. When the king was away with the army, Isabella was 
busy sending him troops and supplies. They were continually mov- 
ing from place to place, and as Columbus was poor, he could not 
follow them. He supported himself, as he had done before, in 
making maps and charts, while the good Juan Perez took care 
of and educated his son Diego. 

At last he was summoned before the king. Ferdinand listened 
to what he had to say, and then turned the matter over, as 
King John did, to a conference of wise men. This conference 
was held at Salamanca, the great seat of learning, then, in Spain. 
These learned men were some of them professors of astronomy, 
geography, and other sciences. They were learned priests and 
friars. And before them Columbus stood up in his poor, plain dress, 
and told his story. 



i 



THE VESSELS ARE FITTED OUT FOE THE GREAT DISCOVERY. 

The wise men of Salamanca listened to what Columbus had 
to say. A few believed as he did. But others laughed. 

" The world round ! " some of them said, " we don't believe it 
is, and even if it were, how, if you sailed down under it, 
could you ever get back again up hill ? " 

The}' were wise in many things, but, as you see, they knew 
but little about our world. 

And so the conference came to nothing, and Columbus waited 
and waited, for seven long years. At last he said he would 
wait no longer. Nobody would listen to him. The king and 
queen were thinking only of war. " When the war is over," 
they said, ''' we will see what we can do for you." The follow- 
ers of the court laughed at him. Even the little children 
pointed at him, as he passed, and called him a " madman." 
Yes, he would go away from Spain to France whose king had 
written to him that he would help him. 

So he went down to the convent of La Rabida to tell his 
good friend, Juan Perez, what he was going to do. He came to 
the convent gate, weary, hungry and poor, as he did at first. 
And the good Juan Perez's heart ached when he saw him. 

But when he heard what Columbus was going to do, he 
said, " That must not be. Spain must not lose the glory of the 
great discovery. We must try once more what we can do." 
And he wrote to Queen Isabella himself such a letter, that she 



62 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



replied at once, asking Don Perez to come to her, and tell her 
once more what it was Columbus wished to do. 

Don Perez was so glad when he got this letter that he lost 
not a moment, but mounted his mule, and started at midnight 

for Santa Fe, where the 
queen and court were. He 
succeeded ; and Queen Isa- 
bella sent again for Colum- 
bus. 

But at the "very last, once 
more she hesitated. It was 
not strange that she did so. 
King Ferdinand did not look 
favorably on Columbus. Had 
he had his way, Columbus 
would have been sent away 
for good. Besides there was 
no money. The war had 
used up the money of both 
Castile and Arragon. But 
it was only for a brief time 
that Queen Isabella hesi- 
tated, and then she said, as 
such a generous, noble queen would say, ''' I undertake the enter- 
prise for my own kingdom of Castile, and I will pledge my 
private jewels to raise the necessary funds." 

The port of Palos in Andalusia was the place fixed upon from 
which to fit out the vessels. There were three : the Nina, the 
Pinta and the Santa Maria. Two of these were small, of a 
kind called caravels. They were not decked over, but were built 




JUAN PEREZ, AT MIDNIGHT, ON HIS WAY TO SANTA FE. 




iUEEN 1SA11EL1.A OF bl'Ai:< IN lIEli AltJloi;, 



THE ADVENTURES OF C0LU3IBU8. 65 

hioi:li at either end with cabins which looked like houses, or castles. 

At first Columbus could not get even these three small ves- 
sels. The king and queen had ordered the town of Palos to fur- 
nish two of these vessels. But it refused. Nobody was willing 
to risk a vessel, and nobody was willing to go on such a voy- 
age. But the sovereigns issued a second order to have ships 
seized, and masters and crews forced to serve. 

Then arose a great hue and cry in Palos. The most dreadful 
stories w^ere told about those unknown seas and lands whither 
they were to sail. The people of Palos went from house to 
house and talked about it just as people now talk about things. 

" 0," said the w^omen, '' if our husbands and sons go they 
will never come back. They will be swallowed up by the fear- 
ful waves, or by creatures more cruel than the waves." So, you 
may see, there was a great outcry about the voyage in Palos. 

One navigator, however, w^ho lived in Palos, Alonzo Pinzon, a 
man of courage, said he was ready to go, and to risk both 
himself and his money. He thought Columbus would come out 
all right, and would find the country he was going to seek. 
So he and his brother furnished one vessel and part of the 
rest. Alonzo Pinzon was made captain of the P'mta and his 
brother Vicente Yanez Pinzon captain of the Nlria. The Santa 
3Iaria, the largest vessel, aiid the only one decked, was the 
flag ship, and Columbus himself was its captain. 



TPIE VOYAGE AND THE DISCOVERY. 

Columbus was fifty-six years of age when he set sail from 
Palos with the Plnta, the Nina and the Santa 3Iaria. They 
sailed August, 1492, and the mothers, wives and children of the 
men went down to the wharves to bid them " good-by " with 
many tears, for they never expected to see them return. 

On the third day out, the rudder of the Pinta was found to 
be broken, and they put in to the Canary Islands. There they 
staid three weeks till a new one could be made. As they sailed 
past the island of Teneriffe the sailors were terrified at sight of 
its volcanoes sending forth fire and smoke. But Columbus told 
them all about volcanoes, and calmed their fears. And so he had 
to keep explaining things to them, for as soon as they lost sight 
of the Canary Islands they were full of fears at every new thing. 

They had heard of the Canary Islands. European vessels often 
visited these islands. But of the ocean beyond they knew noth- 
ing. To them it was a wide waste of unknown waters. They 
feared its storms, its rocks, its shoals, and the dreadful creatures 
which they thought lived in it. Many of these truly brave men 
cried aloud when the last bit of land disappeared in the east, 
and they thought of the dear friends they had left. Brave as 
they were, they had not the courage and faith of Columbus. He 
was a happy man when he saw the last faint land-line dis- 
appear; for he had now entered upon that voyage for which he 
had worked and waited for eighteen years. 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



September 6 they set sail from the Canaries, and on Septem- 
ber 11, they fell in with part of a wreck. The sight of this 
wreck filled the crew with fear. September 14, however, they 
thoiio-ht there were sisrns of land. A heron hovered about the 
ships, a bird which they supposed never flew far from land. 

On and on the three ships 
sailed, until they came within 
the influence of what are 
called the "Trade Winds." 
The soft air and the beauti- 
ful skies made them think 
of their beloved Andalusia. 
They began to see patches 
of weeds, such as grov^r in 
rivers, green, too, as if it 
had not been long since they 
were washed down into the 
ocean. A pretty white tropi- 
cal bird came to greet them. 
The crew watched eagerly 
for land. Ferdinand and Isabella had promised to the man who 
should first discover it a pension of thirty crowns. On the 18th 
Alonzo Pinzon thought he saw land at the north, but it proved 
to be fog on the horizon. 

The sailors began to grow uneasy. The favorable wind, that 
had borne them so far towards the west, they began to fear 
would not allow them to return again. On the 20th, however, 
a contrary breeze sprung up, and they felt better. That day birds 
flew about the vessel, such as live only in groves and orchards. 
They came singing in the morning, and went away at night. 




68 THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 

Next there came a calm, and the ocean was covered with weeds 
as far as the eje could reach. The men were frightened again. 
They thought they were coming upon sunken land, where the 
vessels would get aground, and could never be got off again, and 
they would have to stay there and die. 

The calm was broken by a great swell of the ocean, and then 
they felt better again. At last, however, they began to talk 
seriously of a mutiny against Columbus. He was a madman, 
they said. Some of them even proposed to throw him into 
the sea and then return to Spain, and tell the king and queen 
that he had tumbled overboard while gazing at the stars ! 

Columbus knew what was going on, but he spoke soothingly 
to the men, and promised a doublet of velvet in addition to the 
thirty crowns to whoever should first see land. September 25 
Alonzo Pinzon shouted from his vessel, " Land ! land ! Senor, I 
claim my reward." But Alonzo Pinzon was again mistaken. 

October 7 Columbus changed his course. Up to that time he 
had sailed directly west. But he had noticed flocks of birds 
coming from and going back to the southwest. He determined 
to follow in the track of those birds. On the evening of October 
11 he went up on top of the castle to watch for land. There 
had been many signs of land that day — a branch of thorn with 
berries on it, a piece of a tree, a carved staff. How eager, 
how anxious, how full of hope was Columbus ! At ten o'clock 
he saw a light. It moved from side to side, and up and down. 
He called to two of his gentlemen to come and look. They, 
too, saw the light. At two o'clock in the morning, a gun from 
the Pinta gave the welcome signal of land, and they took 
in sail and lay to, waiting for daylight. 



COLUMBUS MAKES HIS FIRST LANDING IN THE NEW WORLD. 



Yoli may be sure that, at the first dawn of day, Cohimbus, 
his officers and his crew were on deck for a look at the new- 
found Land. And a beautiful land it was, a green and level 
island, covered with trees like an orchard or park. The date of 
its discovery was October 12, 1492. 

There were people on the island, a dusky people unlike any 
the Spaniards had ever seen. 

Columbus at once ordered the boats to be manned. He put 
on his finest dress of scarlet, took the fiag of Castile and Arragon 
in his hand and stepped on board his boat. Alonzo Pinzon and 
his brother followed in their boats. Each carried the flao; of the 
Expedition. On this flag was a green cross having on each side 
the letters F and Y the initials of Ferdinand and Ysabel. 

As soon as Columbus 
landed he knelt, kissed the 
ground, and gave thanks to 
God for his success. The 
rest knelt around him. 

Then he arose to his feet, 
drew his sword, and took 
230ssession of the island in 
the name of the SjDanish 
Sovereigns. He named this island San Salvador. 

The king and queen had promised Columbus that he should ht 




COLUMBUb KNELT AND QAVE THANKS TO GOD. 



70 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



mceroy and admiral over all lands he should discover. So he 
next called around him his officers and crew to take the oath 
of obedience to him as Admiral. 

The natives watched these proceedings with curiosity. Early in 
the morning they had seen 













with fear these monsters 
— for such they called the 
vessels — hovering on their 
huge white wings about 
their island. They crowded 
down to the shore to get 
a nearer view. But, when 
they saw the boats filled 
with strange beings draw- 
ing near, they had fled in \^ 
terror to the woods. 

When they found, how- 
ever, that these strange 
beings did not follow them, 
but w^ent quietly about their 
own business, they took courage, and came out from their hiding 
places. They saw with wonder the white skins of the Spaniards, 
their beards, their gay clothes, and their shining armor. Growing 
still bolder, they went up to these strange beings, touched their 
wonderful clothes and faces, and took their white hands in theirs. 

Columbus was pleased with their gentleness, and told his men 
to let them gratify their curiosity. He treated them with such 
kindness t\\Qy began to think these vessels had come straight from 
the skies, on their white wings, and that these strange and 
terrible, but beautiful beings, were the inhabitants of the skies ! 



THE N'AllN 



SWIM OUT AND BlilNG GIFTS. 



r~^ 



^ > ' 

.> >i',. 
















TAKING POSSESSION OF THE ISLAM, IN THE NAME OF THE SPANISH SOVEREIGNS. 



i 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. .73 

You may remember, that Columbus thought when he sailed 
west that he should reach some part of the East Indies. So he 
named these people Indians. 

He gave them colored caps, glass beads, and hawks' bells. 
Thev hung the strings of beads about their necks, and jingled 
the bells. The Spaniards staid all that day on this green island, 
refreshing themselves after their long voyage. 

The next morning the shore was thronged with the natives. 
When the boats again put off many came out to meet them in 
their light canoes hollowed from trees. Some swam out, bringing 
gifts of parrots, balls of cotton, and cakes of bread called cassava. 
Some of them wore ornaments of gold in their noses. 

Columbus staid a few days at this island, wdiich is one of the 
Bahamas, and then began a cruise among the other islands of 
this group. Everywhere the natives received them with kindness, 
bringing them cotton, and exchanging their few ornaments of gold 
for beads and hawks' bells. For the Spaniards were greedy for gold. 

These people lived in tents made of branches of trees and 
covered with palm leaves. These tents were built under the 
shelter of the beautiful trees, and were neatly kept by the women. 
They slept in a kind of cotton net, slung between two posts, 
which nets they called hamacs. Did you ever see a hamac f 

Among these islands was one, most beautiful of all, to which 
Columbus gave the name of " Isabella." " I know not," he says 
" where first to go, nor are my eyes ever weary of gazing on 
this beautiful verdure. Here are large lakes, and the groves about 
them are marvellous, and here and in all the islands everything 
is green, and the herbage as in April in Andalusia. The singing 
of the birds is such, that it seems as if one would never desire 
to depart thence." 



CRUISING. 

The next isiand Columbus found was Cuba. When he saw this 
great island he was sure he had found Japan (Cipango). As he 
sailed along its shores he sent a boat on shore, now and then, 
to a.sk the natives about that splendid city wherein dwelt the 
king in his palace covered with gold. Afterwards he thought that 
this island was not an island at all, but a continent — the Conti- 
nent of Asia. And to the day of his death he always thought so. 
The air was so spicy he was sure the Spice Islands lay some- 
where near. He saw on this island of Cuba a canoe hollowed 
from a tree, so big that it would hold one hundred and fifty per- 
sons. He found in an empty house — for the people fled when 
they saw the Spaniards coming — a cake of wax. This he took 
to send to the Spanish sovereigns, '^' for where there is wax," said 
he, " there must be a thousand other o:ood thing:s." 

After Cuba, he next found Hayti ; and what a lovely time he 
must have had sailing over those summer seas and finding green 
and flowery islands, peopled with a gentle, friendly race. Hurri- 
canes often blow in the West Indies, but Columbus does not seem 
to have met Avith any. In the rivers of Hayti they found fish 
like those of Spain. They heard birds which they thought were 
nightingales — birds which live in Spain. The country they thought 
looked like the more beautiful parts of Spain, and so they named 
the island Hispaniola, which means Little Spain. 

Here, as elsewhere, the people fled in terror when they saw the 
Spaniards. But the Indians whom Columbus had with him followed 



\ 



THE ADVENTURED OF COLUMBUS. 



7o 



them and quieted their fears. They told them that these people 
had come down from the skies to bring beautiful gifts. 



^ 









^ 



i^^: 



V /;^:s] 







THE DREADFUL LTZAED. 



On this island the Santa Mai^ia was wrecked on the morning of 
Christmas day, 1492. Columbus usually stayed on deck at night 
because there was ""reat dano-er in coasting; alonsr these unknown 



70 THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 

shores. But that night he was so tired, and the sea was so calm, 
he thought he might safely rest a while. He gave orders to the 
steersman not to give the helm in charge to a ship boy. But no 
sooner had the admiral gone than the steersman did that very 
thing, and the vessel was carried b}^ the currents on to a sand bar. 

This wreck took place not far from the home of the chief 
Guacanngari, who proved to be a good friend. He sent his canoes 
and men to help the Spaniards to unload the vessel. He ordered 
a guard to be kept over their goods after they were brought on 
shore, and nothing was stolen. The chief invited Columbus 
to visit him and gave him a feast of fruits and fish. He ordered 
his peojDle to dance before him to cheer him. He tried to cheer 
him all he could for the loss of the Santa Mariar 

Columbus told Guacanagari he would protect him from his 
enemies, the Caribs. He ordered a cannon on board the Nina 
to be fired off. When the natives saw the flash and heard the 
roar they were frightened. They saw how the big ball tore the 
trees. But they were glad too. They said, " These wonderful 
beings have brought their thunder and lightning from the skies 
and will j)rotect us from the Caribs." 

During all these cruisings from island to island, the Spaniards 
had seen no wild beasts. But they had seen a fearful creature 
with sjDines on its back, a pouch under its throat and a wide 
mouth. They soon found that this creature was a kind of lizard 
and harmless. Its flesh is good for food. 

They found also a root new to them which the Indians ate ; 
it was the potato. In Cuba they saw the natives going about 
"with certain dried herbs which they rolled up in a leaf and 
lighting one end, put the other end in their mouths," and smoked. 
They called this roll " a tobacco." 



HIS EETUKN TO SPAIX. 

January 4, 1493, Columbus set out on his return to Spain. He 
took with him nine Indians. He was two months crossing the At- 
lantic, and met with a fearful storm which lasted fourteen days. 
He feared the vessel might sink, and the king and queen of Spain 
might never hear of his great discovery. So he wrote an account 
of it on a strip of parchment, wrapped it in a waxed cloth, placed 
it in the centre of a cake of wax, put the whole into a barrel and 
threw it into the sea. He thought perhaps somebody might find it. 

He put into the river Tagus in Portugal to wait for fair weather, 
and visited the queen of Portugal. 

March 13, he sailed into the harbor of Palos. You remember 
that the Santa Maria was wrecked off the coast of Cuba. The 
Pinta had become separated from the Nina while crossing the At- 
lantic. So it was only the Nina that sailed into Palos on that 
joyful day almost four hundred years ago. The news of her ar- 
rival quickly flew over the town. The bells were rung, the shops 
were closed, and everybody left their business and their work, even 
the children left their play, to hasten to the wharves. 

Columbus was at once ordered to 2:0 to the court at Bar- 

o 

celona. As he drew near that city, a great company on horse- 
back came out to meet him. His entrance was a triumph. Such 
a brilliant and strange procession had never before been seen in 
Spain. For first of all came the dusky Indians (six of them) wear- 
ing feathers of gay tropical birds and ornaments of gold. The 



78 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



sailors and ship-bo^^s of the Nina carried poles and pike staffs, 
on the top of which were stuffed parrots, cocoanuts, bananas, huge 




U/^r/ .''==-1 



COLUMBUS TSLLINO THE STORY OP HIS VOYAGE TO THE QUEEN OF PORTUGAL. 

calabashes or gourds, rare plants and the stuffed body of an iguana 
or big lizard. One of the prettiest things was the yellow ears of 







COLUMBUS iiNXEKa lH TKlUMfii THE CITY Oi^ BARCELONA. 



THE ADVENTUEES OF COLUMBUS. 



81 



the Indian corn. Coronets and bracelets of gold, baskets finely 
woven of grass, and banners were in the procession. Then came 
Columbus himself, on horseback, and around him were the proud 




COLUMBUS TELLING DON PEREZ WHAT HE HAD SEEN AND DONE. 

nobles of Spain. I wonder if he remembered then the time when 
he came to the door of the convent cf La Rabida asking for bread 
and water. 

The king and queen rose to receive him, which was a great 
honor. They listened to his story, and when he had finished they 
fell on their knees, all who were present did the same, and the 
royal choir chanted the Te Deum Laudamus (We praise thee, 
God). Thus they gave to God the glory of the great discovery. 

But I doubt if Columbus enjoyed anything more than he did 
the telling of all he had seen and done to his good and faithful 
friend Don Perez. 



1 



HIS SECOND VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD. 

September 25, 1493, Columbus set sail on his second voyage. 
This time he had three large ships and fourteen small ones. On 
his first voyage, you remember, nobody was willing to go. But 
now so many were eager to go that he had in all fifteen hun- 
dred. 

His two boys, Diego and Ferdinand, came to see Columbus off, 
" proud of the glory of their father." 

The vessels stopped at the Canary Islands, where calves, goats, 
sheep and pigs were bought to stock the island of Hispaniola. 

November 2, the fleet arrived at the Antilles. On the 4th they 
landed on Gaudaloupe, and here the Spaniards first tasted the 
delicious pine-apple. The houses on this island were square. 
Tliey were woven of reeds and thatched with palm leaves, and 
each had a little portico. The people on this island were the 
warlike Caribs. Their arrows were pointed with the bones of 
fishes, and were poisoned. The women fought as well as the 
men. The children learned to use the bow a ad arrow very early. 

November 22, the fleet arrived off Hispaniola (Hayti). Before 
Columbus went back to Spain from his first voyage, he had had 
a fort built from the wreck of the Santa Maria. He had called 
that fort La Navidad, and had left a number of Spaniards in it. 
November 27, he arrived opposite the harbor of La Navidad, but 
there was no sign of life. Not a Spaniard was to be seen. The 
next day he landed and found the fort burned. All around lay 




liAKTHULOSIEW COLOMBLS. 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



85 



broken chests, torn clothes, and household things. He soon learned 
the truth. 

In the interior of the island lived a warlike Carib chief named 
Caonabo — Caonabo means " The Lord of the Golden House." 
He was so called because he lived in the golden mountain of 
Cibao. After Columbus went away the Spaniards that he had 
left in the fort treated the natives badly. They lived wicked 
lives ; they grew careless and would not obey their commander. 
They often left the fort un- 
guarded. One night all but 
ten were away. Caonabo came 
with his warriors, killed the 
ten, destroyed the fort, and 
set fire to the houses where 
the other white men were 
sleeping. Afterwards Caonabo 
was taken prisoner ; and this 
is how it was done. 

Columbus had tried in vain to 
take him in battle, and at last 
Alonzo de Ojeda said he would take him alive by a trick. He 
invited Caonabo to visit Isabella, the town Columbus had founded. 
He told Caonabo he would give him the bell on the chapel of 
Isabella. This bell was a great wonder to the Indians. When 
they heard it ring and saw the Spaniards hurrying to the 
service, they thought the bell " talked " and called them. 

So Caonabo called his warriors together and started for Isa- 
bella. They halted one day near the river Yagui, and Ojeda 
showed to Caonabo a set of manacles — irons to hold the hands 
together — such as are put upon prisoners. They were of steel, 




A CAlIIli iiot>i;. 



36 THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 

and polished till they shone like silver. Ojeda told Caonabo that 
these were worn by the king and qneen of Spain at festivals — 
that they came from the skies. 

" Go, Caonabo/' he said, " and bathe in the river, then I will 
put these on your wrists, and you shall mount my horse and 
ride like a king before your people." For these Indians thought 
the horses of the Spaniards were wonderful creatures. They at first 
thought the man and the horse made one animal. 

So Caonabo was greatly pleased at Ojeda's offer. He bathed, 
and then Ojeda helped him to get upon his horse, and then put 
on the manacles. And there was Caonabo a prisoner ! For he could 
n'ot help himself; and Ojeda took the bridle of his horse, and 
he and his men dashed away upon their horses, and carried 
Caonabo with them. Columbus afterwards took him to Spain, but 
he died on the voyage. And that was the end of the brave, 
proud Caonabo, who died as many a white man has done, for 
his people and his country. 

In October, Bartholomew Colombus arrived at Isabella, and glad 
enough was Columbus to see him. For Columbus was not having 
an easy time. The Spaniards had hoped and expected to find 
gold so plenty that they could pick it up like stones. And 
when they did not they were bitterly disappointed. They said 
Columbus was to blame. (We always have to find fault with some- 
body, you know, when things don't turn out to suit us.) They sent 
lying reports home about him. They did everything they could to 
harm him. Many of them were bad men and lived bad lives. So 
he was glad to have near him so good, so brave, so loving, so 
active, so generous a man as was this brother ; and when " he went 
back a second time to Spain he left Bartholomew in command of 
the island of Hispaniola. 



STORY OF THE EGG. THE THIRD VOYAGE. 

I must go Imck a little in this chapter to tell you a pretty 
story about Columl)us, a story that everybody likes, and likes to tell. 

When Columbus returned from his first voyage, you remember, 
he was feasted and made much of. And, among others, Gonzalvez 
de Mendoza, the grand Cardinal of Spain, gave him a splendid 
banquet. Mendoza was the first subject m the Spanish kingdom, 
and was a noble and princely man. He gave to Columbus the 
most honorable place at his table, and served him as he would 
have served the king himself. 

He did not envy Columbus his good fortune in discovering the 
New World. Not a bit. He was glad to do him honor. 

But there were men who did envy Columbus. And because 
they envied him they would like to have injured him. Some of 
these men v\^ere at the banquet that day. And one of .them it 
Avas wdio said to Columbus : 

'• If you had not discovered the New World, do you not think 
there are plenty of men in Spain who could have done it ? " 
It was the same as if he had said, " It was nothing to discover 
the New World. It was easy enough just to sail West till you 
came to it. You are making a great fuss about nothing." 

Columbus did not reply to this in words. But he took an Qg^ 
and asked this man to make it stand up on one end. The man 
tried, but could not make it stand up. Then another tried, and 
another, and another, till all had tried, and none could do it. 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



Then Columbus took the egg and struck one end lightly upon 
the table, so as to break it a little, and left it standing. 

I do not suppose he said anything. But they all knew what 
he meant — tliat it is easy to do a thing after you know how 
it is done. And now that he had shown the way to the New 
World, it was easy enough for other men to follow. 

This story is told by an Italian, Benzoni, in his history 
printed in 1572. 

You have read that the proud Caonabo died while on the pas- 
sage to Spain. But Colum- 




bus had also taken with 
him Caonabo's brother aTid 
his nephew, the latter a boy 
of ten. These two he car- 
ried about with him in Spain 
wherever he went. He pres- 
ented them to Ferdinard and 
Isabella. Whenever they 
passed through a great city, 
he put a heavy gold col- 
lar and chain round the 
neck of Caonabo's brother, 
because he came from the 
" Golden House " of Cibao. 

May 30, 1498, Columbus set 
sail on his third voyage to the 
New World. This time he sailed a little south of West and came 
into what are called the " calm latitudes." These lie on the 
equator. And here the wind fell, and they had a calm which 
lasted eight days. The air was liot " like a furnace," the •' tar 



COLUMBUS PHESKNTING THE BROTHER OK CAONABO TO 
I-KHDINAND AND ISABELLA, 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



9. 



about the ships melted ; the seams of the ships opened ; the salt 
meat was spoiled ; the wheat was parched as if with fire " ; the 
hoops shrunk from the water casks, and some of them burst. In 
this way they lost much of their water, and on July 31 there 
was but one cask of water on each ship. Columbus began to 

feel anxious ; he feared they 
might get out of water be- 
fore they reached land. But 
that very day at noon, a 
sailor saw three mountain 
tops rising above the hori- 
zon. These proved to be 
an island with three moun- 
tains upon it. So Columbus 
named it La Trinidad, which 
means the Trinity, or three. 
They went on shore and 
found a clear brook where 
they filled their casks. 

Trinidad is near the mouth 
of the Orinoco Eiver. This 
river brought down a vast body of water into the ocean 
and the current was strong there, and the waves big. One 
night, when Columbus was on deck, he heard a loud roar 
in the south. He looked, and saw a great wave coming high as 
the ship itself. It was rolling toward the ship with a noise like 
thunder. It was white with foam. He thought it would roll over 
the ship and destroy it. But instead of that, the ship was lifted 
up upon it like a cork, and rode there in safety. But the crew 
were greatly terrified. 




HUGE WAVE AT THE MOUTH (.)E THE OUHNULO. 



COLUMBUS IN CHAIJfS. 




Columbus hy this time had changed his 
mind about the shape of the earth. Instead 
of being round, he now thought it was shaped 
like a pear, one part of it being higher than 
the rest, and tapering up toward the sky. 
And he now thouo;ht he had come to that 
part of the earth which was higher than the 
rest. For the sky was very clear and blue 
here, and the air cool and sweet. The coast 
opposite to La Trinidad was a green and fruit- 
ful land ; the mornings and evenings were 
cool and fresh, and even at noon the sun 
was not very hot. 
Now, in this same latitude in Africa, he knew it was hot and 
dry, and the land was unfruitful. In Africa, too, the people 
were black, and coarse in manner. 

But here the natives were fair, fairer even than in Cuba. 
They had long hair, and were graceful and bright. So this land, 
he thought, must be much higher than that in the same latitude 
in Africa. The great river Orinoco, too, carried its fresh waters 
far out into the ocean. It ran hard and fast, as though it ran 
down hill. Yes, he was sure now that he had come to that 
part of the earth that tapered up toward the sky. And that if 
he kept sailing on, by and by he would come to the top, and 



COLUMBUS THOUGHT THE 

EAKTH WAS SHAPED LIKE 

A PEAK. 



THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 



95 



there he would find the Garden of Eden, which we read about 
in the Bible ! For up near the stem of the pear, he thought 
the Garden of Eden was placed. 

We know he was mistaken but so he thought; and he wrote 
to the king and queen of Spain all about what he thought, 
and perhaps they thought so too. For many wise men of that 
day supposed the Garden of Eden was to be found on some 
part of the earth higher than the rest. 

After Columbus set sail upon his third voyage, his enemies 
were very busy in Spain. They tried to turn the king and 
queen against him. They said he made his discoveries only for 
his own profit ; that he 

treated those who went =v\ ^ ' --~A=- 

with him badly ; that he 
deceived the king and 
queen about the countries 
he had found 5 they said 
everything that bad men 
can say about one whom 
they wish to injure. 

So finally the king and 
queen sent Boabdilla out 

to see about thincrs. If Boabdilla found that Columbus had done 
wrong, he was to send him home and be governor in his place. 

"But," they said to Boabdilla, "inquire very carefully, and do 
nothing hastily." 

But Boabdilla did not inquire at all. He at once ordered 
Columbus to be put in chains. Nobody would do it at first. 
Put chains upon Columbus, the great discoverer! The good, true, 
noble man ! But at last one of his own servants put the man- 




COLUMBUS KETUKNING TO SPAIN IN CHAINS. 



96, THE ADVENTURES OF COLUMBUS. 

acles on his wrists, and then he was sent home to Spain in chains. 

But when he arrived there, Queen Isabella was very angry; 
and she ordered the chains to be taken off, and Columbus to be 
brought to her. 

When he entered her presence, worn with sorrow and age, 
mournful, but still carrying himself nobly, the good and tender- 
hearted queen burst into tears. 

Columbus again obtained leave to make another voyage to the 
New World. He sailed May 9, 1502. About three weeks after 
his return from that voyage Queen Isabella died. And by her 
death Columbus lost his best friend. 

He died at Valladolid, Spain, May 20, 1506, aged seventy 
years. 



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